DENVER — A federal appeals court here on Friday struck down a second conservative-leaning state’s voter-approved ban on same-sex marriage, ruling that Oklahoma could not deny gay couples their “fundamental right” to wed.

The 2-to-1 decision came less than a month after the same panel of judges for the United States Court of Appeals for the 10th Circuit decided that Utah’s ban was unconstitutional. It was another legal victory for gay couples as a range of legal challenges to state bans on same-sex marriage edges toward the United States Supreme Court.

In a related development Friday, the Supreme Court said Utah is not required to recognize the marriages of about 1,000 same-sex couples there while state officials pursue appeals.

Lawyers for the Tulsa County court clerk, who was the lead defendant in the Oklahoma case, argued that limiting marriage to one man and one woman sought to reinforce traditional family bonds and encourage the raising of children by their biological parents. The majority rejected that view.

“Oklahoma’s ban on same-sex marriage sweeps too broadly in that it denies a fundamental right to all same-sex couples who seek to marry or to have their marriages recognized regardless of their child-rearing ambitions,” Judge Carlos F. Lucero wrote in the majority opinion. “Oklahoma has barred all same-sex couples, regardless of whether they will adopt, bear, or otherwise raise children, from the benefits of marriage while allowing all opposite-sex couples, regardless of their child-rearing decisions, to marry.”

As in the Utah case, Judge Lucero, who was nominated by President Bill Clinton, wrote the majority opinion and was joined by Judge Jerome A. Holmes, nominated by President George W. Bush. Judge Paul J. Kelly Jr., nominated by the elder President George Bush, dissented in both cases, saying it should be up to a state’s voters to define marriage.

The court, whose decision affirmed a federal judge’s ruling striking down Oklahoma’s ban, put its ruling on hold pending an appeal. Utah has said it will soon appeal to the Supreme Court.

Also Friday, the Colorado Supreme Court ordered the Denver County clerk to stop issuing marriage licenses to gay couples while the state’s ban against the unions remains in place.

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Advocates of same-sex marriage have won a streak of victories in courtrooms across the country in the year since the Supreme Court issued landmark decisions striking down a crucial part of the Defense of Marriage Act and opening the way for same-sex marriage in California. But the Utah and Oklahoma cases are the only ones in which federal appeals courts have ruled on whether states may outlaw same-sex marriage.

The Supreme Court’s order on Friday concerned marriages that took place in Utah between Dec. 20, when Judge Robert J. Shelby of Federal District Court in Salt Lake City struck down Utah’s ban on same-sex marriage, and Jan. 6, when the Supreme Court issued a stay blocking that ruling during appeals.

On May 19, Judge Dale A. Kimball, also on the Federal District Court in Salt Lake City, ruled that Utah must recognize those marriages.

“The state has placed plaintiffs and their families in a state of limbo with respect to adoptions, child care and custody, medical decisions, employment and health benefits, future tax implications, inheritance and many other property and fundamental rights associated with marriage,” Judge Kimball wrote. “These legal uncertainties and lost rights cause harm each day that the marriage is not recognized.”

Judge Kimball entered a brief stay of his decision. The 10th Circuit, which has yet to rule in the case, had extended the stay through Monday.

Marina Gomberg, one of the plaintiffs in the Utah suit, said the Supreme Court’s action left her “disappointed but still optimistic” as the larger legal fight over the constitutionality of Utah’s ban makes its way to the justices.

Ms. Gomberg said she and her partner, Elenor Heyborne, have long wanted to have a baby, but that they have delayed their plans because they worry about raising a child in a state where only one of them can be legally recognized as a parent.

Jack Healy reported from Denver, and Adam Liptak from Washington.

A version of this article appears in print on July 19, 2014, on Page A11 of the New York edition with the headline: Court Finds Oklahoma Cannot Ban Gay Nuptials. Order Reprints|Today's Paper|Subscribe